Story+2005-07-18+Buffalo,+NY

“(?) good evening.....how are you? (cheers)....I´ve been in Buffalo two days, you´re the first folks I´ve seen....where the hell is everybody?....damn....alright, uh, I´m gonna do this one for the moms and pops out there....yes....uh, gonna ask, uh, during the quiet sections that if you can shoo from the hooting and the whistling, the artist would prefer....I appreciate those as forms of self-expression but not during the fucking songs....grazie....it´s the Italian festival, right? (chuckles)....”
 * 18.07.05 Buffalo, NY, intro to “Long Time Comin´”**

“Thank you....those must be, uh....the untrustworthy sections up there (?)....all the untrustworthy fans go up there....I think they´re working on you getting your dollars´ worth of darkness as we´re speaking....that´s what, uh, that´s what happens when computers take over the whole fucking thing (chuckles)....wrote a lot of songs about parents and children on this last record, uh, particularly sons and mothers and what happens when that connection gets severed....this is called ´Black Cowboys´....”
 * 18.07.05 Buffalo, NY, intro to “Black Cowboys”**

“(?) I haven´t played this in a while so, uh....(?)....there´s an important piece of this machine, if I can call it that, that´s not working, there it is, there it is, oh....alright, gonna do this one wishing you have a merry summer....with its rarely performed original third verse (someone: “Thank you, Bruce!”) (chuckles) you don´t know what it is yet, man (chuckles)....”
 * 18.07.05 Buffalo, NY, intro to “Sandy”**

“Yeah....yes, there were some, uh....unexpected extra words in there (chuckles) alright, uh, that was kind of one of my hidden love songs, I usually tell a story, uh, you know, that my dad, when I was young, told me that all love songs were government propaganda....and that their main purpose was to get you married and pay taxes and have kids and....it works! (chuckles) it´s good (chuckles) but, uh, so I used to hide ´em, kind of that was a hidden love song and this was, uh, this one wasn´t so hidden....let´s see if I can play this one....(?) oops (chuckles)....”
 * 18.07.05 Buffalo, NY, intro to “Leap of Faith” (following “Sandy”)**

“(?)....(chuckles)(?)....that´s not the birthday girl in that (?)(chuckles)....”
 * 18.07.05 Buffalo, NY, intro to “Maria´s Bed”**

“This is for, uh, Richie....where are you, Richie? (?) where, where you from? Germany? (?) I´ve been seeing you, you follow me like an Italian....(?) stalking that goes on....it´s, uh (?) but they´re a good bunch (chuckles) alright, you´re from Germany, what can I say?....(?)....anyway, this is for Richie, Richie´s been to a lot of shows and he always has that shirt on, what´s it say?....´Richie Meets Bruce´....it´s a shirt with, uh, it´s a picture of him and I....uh, where, where was that taken?....in Amsterdam, alright....I bet it doesn´t say ´Richie Meets Bruce Where´ (chuckles) alright, Amsterdam....this is for Richie.....thank you, my friend (chuckles).....”
 * 18.07.05 Buffalo, NY, intro to “The Line”**

“Thank you....had a re, had a request for this song backstage, it came on a little piece of paper, I don´t have it now, but, uh....it just said ´Play ´Everything is everything´´.... you know, so I´m sitting there, ´Everything is everything, that sounds familiar´....but, uh, so I´m thinking ´Everything, I never wrote a song called Everything is everything´....but I think, I´m thinking ´I think I wrote a line that says ´Everything is everything´ and, and so, you know, I´m straining my brain and, uh, uh, finally I figured it out so this is for, I think it´s for Lisa, uh, Lisa, that is the incorrect title for this song (chuckles) I, often I wonder when I get a request like that, I wonder, like, how much could you like the song if you don´t know the title? (chuckles) but, you know, sometimes you only have to hear something once and, like I remember going to the record store (?) it´s the same bit of business, I guess, but, uh, anyway, I haven´t played this one since I toured with the band so I´m gonna (?) through it if I can.... yeah, any mistakes are truly intentional....”
 * 18.07.05 Buffalo, NY, intro to “You´re Missing”**

“Thank you....I was, uh, oh yeah, I was.....I was raised Catholic so, uh....Jesus is my defacto homeboy and, uh....I need a little more voice than what I hear, if you can, Billy, uh....you know, you always (?) I got out of high school, got out of grammar school and then I told my parents I wouldn´t go to Catholic high school so I had to go to religious classes for a while, Monday night, everybody was just fooling around.... and uh....then I sort of got, got away from the whole thing and, but it ends up being sort of like Al Pacino says in that terrible Godfather III, uh, that, that, uh, you know, I keep, I try to get out, they keep pulling me back, ´they´ being, uh, uh, my aunts and relatives and such (chuckles) and, you know, occasionally I gotta attend Mass and, and, uh....for celebatory purpose or, or, or not and whenever Communion comes around, they´re, they´re always like pulling at me to go get it, you know, they want me....you know, first of all, you´re supposed to say a confession and contrition before you go, which I haven´t done that and, besides that, I keep trying to explain to them that I´m divorced and therefore excommunicated so (chuckles) so I got all kinds of outs....and they, they just wanna see you eat the wafer, that´s all (chuckles) ´Got him! We got him!....He´s back, we got, we got him, yeah, I told ya!´ (chuckles) but, uh, anyway, uh, uh, once again I wrote a lot of songs about sons and moms and parents and, and....I started trying to think what was it like for Jesus as just somebody´s son, as somebody´s child, and so I wrote this, uh, ´Jesus Was an Only Son´.... (....) at his mother´s feet....now, the first thing that strikes you when you have your kids is how there´s this....feeling that appears in your gut that....there isn´t anything you wouldn´t do, any train you wouldn´t stop or....to make sure that they were safe and that this is a life sentence (chuckles)....Mother prays.... (....) shall pierce your dreams this night....and pretty soon they´ll inform you that they have their own destiny and that you, my friend, are along for the whole ride (chuckles)....but uh....those choices and the choices we make end up gaining meaning from what we sacrifice for and I always figured that Jesus....had to be thinking....that there was that sweet, little bar down in Galilee....that he could manage....and Mary Magdalene could tend bar....I love bartenders....and they could have a bunch of kids, get to see the sun on their face....feel the air in your lungs....and see the next day....and the next day....and the next day....and the next day....in the garden at Gethesemane...”
 * 18.07.05 Buffalo, NY, intro to “Jesus Was an Only Son”**

“Thank you, thank you....wrote this song as a sequel to a song I wrote on the Tom Joad-record called ´Across the Border´....uh, every year there´s hundreds, hundreds of folks die trying to get across the southern border....and, uh, if you eat strawberries or peaches or grapes....they´re getting that food on your table....and what we need instead of vigilantes down along the border is a humane immigration policy....so I wrote this song backwards from the body at the bottom of the river to the man walking across the desert till he stands on the Matamoros banks, across the Rio Bravo, from Brownsville, Texas.....”
 * 18.07.05 Buffalo, NY, intro to “Matamoros Banks”**

“I wanna thank everybody for coming out to the show tonight, thank you very much ....did we ever get them lights on up there?....those bastards (chuckles) goddammit (chuckles) I also wanna give a shout-out to the Foodbank of Western New York, they´re in the hall with us tonight....(?) food and support (?) they redistribute food and the resources to the soup kitchens, pantries and shelters and help the struggling citizens of Western New York, if you get a chance, please help the Foodbank of Western New York, they´re on your way out (?)....and, uh, this one´s for them and for you....”
 * 18.07.05 Buffalo, NY, intro to “The Promised Land”**

//Compiled by : Johanna Pirttijärvi//